Lake George Group Fighting Highly Invasive Iris Species

The Lake George
Association is asking landowners and citizen scientists to be on the lookout
for a botanical bully. The Yellow Iris may look pretty, but it's a highly
invasive, non-native species. According
to the association's Director of Education, Emily DeBolt, it is damaging wetlands
throughout the region. "It is taking over from our native wetland plants,
disrupting native habitats for birds, for fish, for other wetland critters," she says. DeBolt says the plants
look much like the native blue flag iris but these European imports trap
sediment and speed up the process of a wetland filling in.

Vermont added the yellow iris to a list of plants that cannot
be sold in garden centers, but it is still legal to buy yellow iris in New York. The Lake
George Association is asking people to help get rid of it.

"Dig it up but you do need to make sure you get all
the roots," DeBolt says. "If it's in the water you can
just cut it under the surface of the water. You might have to end up cutting it
a few times but it will exhaust the energy store in its roots and it will
eventually be gone," she says. Botanists warn that the
plants can irritate sensitive skin, so gardeners should wear gloves when
dealing with any iris.